Fenrir (Nordic: ᚠᛖᚾᚱᛁᚱ) is the elderly and sick wolf of Loki and Kratos. After his death, Atreus unknowingly casts a spell that transfers his soul to his knife. During the fight with Garm, Atreus transfers his soul to the Hound of Helheim, changing its nature and resurrecting Fenrir, who aids them during the events of Ragnarök.
Quick Answers
Who are Fenrir's parents in Norse mythology?
How does Fenrir come back to life in God of War Ragnarok?
What role does Fenrir play in the events of Ragnarok?
What is the significance of Atreus' knife in Fenrir's resurrection?
How does Fenrir's nature change when his soul is transferred to the Hound of Helheim?
Norse Mythology
In Norse mythology, Fenrir is one of three children of Loki and the jötunn giantess Angrboða, his other siblings being Hel and Jormungandr. All of them were born in Jotunheim. Once the Gods found out about their existence, they began to fear them as there were prophesies that these three siblings would bring great misfortune upon the Gods due to nature of both of their parents, their father Loki in particular.
Subsequently, Odin commanded the other Gods to journey into Jotunheim and bring the three siblings to him. When they arrived in Asgard, Odin proceeded to throw Jormungandr into the ocean of Midgard and banish Hel to Helheim after giving her authority over the dead. Fenrir however was kept in Asgard, but inspired such fear in the Gods that only Týr was brave enough to approach the wolf and give him food. The Gods noticed that Fenrir was rapidly growing bigger with every passing day, which only made them more fearful of him due to the prophecy that the wolf would bring them great harm. Thus, they decided to try and imprison Fenrir.
The Gods then forged the fetter (chain) Leyding. Bringing the chain to the wolf, the Aesir suggested he test his strength with it. Judging that the chain was not beyond his strength, Fenrir let the Gods bind him with it. With the first kick, the binding snapped and the wolf freed himself.
The Gods then forged a second chain twice as strong as Leyding, which they named Dromi. Confident that this chain would imprison the wolf, they once again approached him. Claiming that he would achieve great fame for his strength should the wolf break of this binding, Fenrir once again allowed the Gods to place the fetter on him noting that the chain was indeed very strong and that he needed to take risks to earn great fame. Fenrir strained hard against the fetter, eventually breaking it into many pieces which flew off into the distance.
Fearing that they could not bind the Wolf-Giant, Odin commissioned some Dwarves to make an unbreakable binding that Fenrir could not escape from. The Dwarves then crafted a chain using six mystical ingredients; the footfall of a cat, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish and the spittle of a bird. The resulting binding was as soft silk ribbon and was named Gleipnir. After it was delivered to the Aesir, they took Fenrir out onto an island called Lyngvi, which lay in the middle of a lake called Amsvartnir (pitch-black). There, the Gods presented Gleipnir to Fenrir, stating that despite the chain looking like a silk ribbon, even the Gods could not tear it and demonstrated this by pulling at the fetter with all of their might, but it did not break. However, the Jotunn became suspicious due to the deceptive appearance of the chain and refused to let himself be bound, stating that he believed the ribbon was made with art and trickery.
However, the Gods appealed to his ego, stating that Fenrir could easily break such a pitiful silken strip, as he had broken two great iron bonds made by the Gods themselves previously. They also added on, that if Fenrir was not able to break the silken binds, then it would be very clear to them that Fenrir was no threat to be feared at all and he would be set free immediately. Fenrir, still suspicious, responded that he would only allow himself to be bound if one of the Gods present put their hand in his mouth as a show of good faith. If he could break free of the chain, all would be well, but if he did not, the God would loose their hand.
Hearing this, the Gods looked amongst themselves, knowing that someone had to sacrifice their hand to the wolf if he was to be imprisoned forever, but none of them were willing to do so. Týr then silently stepped up and placed his right hand inside the wolfs jaws, after which Fenrir allowed the Aesir to bind him once again. As Fenrir kicked and thrashed to free himself, Gleipnir only grew stronger and tighter. Seeing that the wolf was finally imprisoned, all of the Gods laughed except Týr, who lost his right hand to an enraged Fenrir. The Gods then took singular cord called Gelgja (fetter), which hung from Gleipnir and fed it through the stone slab Gjöll (Resounding) and fastened it deep into the ground, after which they put another great rock Thviti (Batterer) on top of it to act as an anchoring peg. Further enraged, Fenrir attempted to bite the Gods, who then thrust a sword into his upper jaw, so he could not close his mouth.
And there they left him, to remain bound like his father until the coming of Ragnarok, where he will break free and join his family in the final battle against the Aesir on the field of Vígríðr where he will fight Odin and kill him, before being killed shortly after by Víðarr.
In the God of War Series
At some point in Fimbulwinter, Fenrir was found by Kratos and Atreus along with Speki and Svanna, with the boy developing a deep fondness for him. Fenrir was already quite old, with his age leaving him in very poor health. Atreus truly believed that with enough care and effort he would recover, but Fenrir's health would only continue to deteriorate until the boy could no longer deny it. Fenrir passed away in Atreus' lap as he did his best to comfort him in his final moments, although Atreus did not realize he was inadvertently transferring one out of four pieces of the wolf's soul into his knife while doing so. Grief-stricken Atreus soon left to bury him somewhere in the woods.
During their time together in Ironwood, Angrboda realized that Fenrir's soul was stored in Atreus' knife, something he was entirely unaware of. Despite his pleas, Angrboda felt it best not to tell him of the soul's identity, saying he would figure it out in time.
Fenrir was resurrected by Atreus in Helheim, when the latter used his knife bearing the wolf's soul to strike Garm's body, transplanting his soul into the soulless beast. Fenrir would run away scared and confused, until Kratos and Atreus found him whimpering in a cave. After calming him, Fenrir revealed himself, affectionately licking Atreus and obeying Kratos' command to sit. After Kratos ordered to return to the house, Fenrir then displayed his new ability to tear rifts in the dimensional fabric, creating a portal back to Midgard. Atreus would soon entrust Fenrir's ownership and well-being to Angrboda, as she was better skilled to handle caring for the now-giant wolf.
During Ragnarök, Angraboda is seen riding Fenrir, who begins attacking Odin's forces and destroying the Dwarven-built war machines. Fenrir is later seen attacking and eating a dragon blocking Kratos and Atreus' path. As the new Valkyrie Queen Gna swoops in to attack Angraboda, Fenrir quickly opens and travels through a realm tear, taking Gna with him. He later appears with Angraboda to save Kratos and his allies after Odin is defeated and Surtr prepares to destroy Asgard with one final blow.
In post-game, Fenrir is seen resting in Jötunheim in the company of Angrboda.
Appearance
Fenrir appears to be an ordinary wolf with gray (and white) and dense fur, with vivid hazel irises and light brown pupils. The fur on the left side of his face was discolored a bright white similar to Kratos' marked tattoo and Atreus's scar.
After his soul is transplanted into the body of Garm, the latter's body is transformed into an oversized version of Fenrir's original form.
Powers and Abilities
As a reborn giant Hel-Hound, Fenrir is one of the most powerful beings in all the Realms, having enough power to tear holes between the realms.
- Superhuman Strength: Fenrir attained Garm's tremendous levels of vast superhuman strength, being capable of destroying Odin's war machines with ease and scatter Odin's forces. He was also capable of easily killing a dragon.
- Superhuman Durability: As a reborn giant Helhound, Fenrir gains Garm's immense levels of superhuman durability.
- Interdimensional Rift Creation: After being resurrected into the body of Garm, Fenrir gained the ability to tear rifts to travel between realms.
- Reality Annihilation: It's safe to assume that Fenrir attained Garm's ability to destroy not just matter, but metaphysical and conceptual aspects of reality following his resurrection into the latter's body. Due to his tame nature however, this was never actively displayed.
- Cryokinesis: As Garm displayed the ability to shoot blasts of ice from his mouth and cause ice to erupt from the ground by stomping on it, it would be a faint surprise that Fenrir gained the ability following his resurrection into the latter's body.
Trivia
- In Norse mythology, Fenrir was a literal child of Loki and Angrboda. In the God of War series, Fenrir began as an ordinary wolf whose soul was transplanted into the body of the Helhound Garm, technically making Atreus his "creator".
- Also in Norse Myth, his alternative name called Hróðvitnir, which in God of War (series), they're separated as their origins is different: Fenrir was born in Midgard later resurrected into Hel-Hound, Hróðvitnir is actually nickname of Garm, the Hel hound who was the greatest enemy of the Aesir and chained in Helheim. Also Garm (Fenrir) has the sons namely Skoll and Hati.
- Fenrir was primarily featured in the trailer already in his giant form, however he didn't appear to be in Garm's body.
- Fenrir was the only male wolf in Kratos and Atreus' service, as Speki and Svanna were both female. Unlike the female wolves, Fenrir is never seen pulling a sled, nor he's ever shown interacting with them.
- Fenrir had his own doghouse independent of Speki and Svanna's, built directly next to Kratos' home while theirs was housed much farther away.
- The grave containing Fenrir's original body can be found while playing God of War Ragnarök. While playing through the postgame, revisiting the grave reveals it has bloomed a bed of flowers.
Gallery
Concept Art
3D Model
